Outer Wilds Review
The Universe is, and we are.
Wow man, what a game.
It’s been a while since a game has got me this hooked. When starting this I don’t think I knew anything beyond this being a game about space and seeing a clip of someone getting eaten by a fish…
But yeah, I can safely say this was an incredibly unique experience. Go check Outer Wilds out, go in blind and just keep trying things. You’ll work it out.
Okay, without further ado lets get this show on the road.
Outer Wilds is a terrifying game, it takes the lethality, loneliness, vastness and scariness of space and amps it up to an absurd degree. At many points in this game it feels like everything is out to get you, whether its those damn anglerfish, rocks that basically cause instant death, black holes, the sun or any number of other crazy ways you can die.
The timeloop aspect manages to make this game feel incredibly forgiving and kind in a rather strange way, it can feel like both a blessing and a curse. Sure, you might feel like an ant in the vastness of the universe, but you have the ability to try, try and try again. But that doesn’t make some of the more sinister, unsettling or scary encounters any less nail-biting.
Every loop gives you an opportunity to learn, you can test theories like a scientist with a process, throw yourself into reckless situations or do wild experiments which could either be exactly what you need to do or totally off the mark. Every time I was worried I had no idea where to go, some wild hail mary I never considered a viable option ends up working, its great.
The timeloop also allowed me to be a reckless stupid dumb baby, which I’m grateful for. I flew too close to the sun more times than I care to admit. But it’s like that quote from Solanum’s ship says:
“As a child, I considered such unknowns sinister. Now, I understand they bear no ill will. The Universe is, and we are”
This universe which feels so vast, scary and “unpredictable” isn't deliberately trying to be sinister. Sure it might act in strange, terrifying and unusual ways but it is ultimately predictable and has patterns which you can see once you understand more on the Nomais’ technology and the way each planet works, even the seemingly impossible quantum moon has a logic to its bizarreness.
Dark Bramble, despite its impossible size and the way it duplicates signals, is still ultimately understandable, its an oversized parasitic weed which broke apart the planet which was there long before.
I love how this “not-what-it-seems” aspect even applies to The Eye of the Universe. The way the Nomai discuss it with reverance, doubt or baited breath can make you feel like this Eye thing, whatever you think it is, is somehow alive and deliberately trying to mislead in some sinister plot.
But in actuality, it seems like The Eye is the thing that facilitates the rebirth of the universe in a new cycle, for more species like the Nomai and Hearthians to rediscover the universe and continue to pay this debt of continuing the cycle forwards again.
It was so cool to rediscover the Nomais’ culture and history, I love piecing together the timeline of events even if I didn’t keep track of every name and character. You really get the sense that they’re people, not just a hivemind of scientists.
I think it only really hit me when meeting Solanum that ALL of the Nomai existed at one point or another. Super sad that Solanum is basically only “alive” on the Quantum moon circling the Eye, the other versions of her “died” when the Ghost Matter launched out…
This game felt so humbling, particularly near the end. I KNEW so much but still felt lost. I knew the Ash Twin Project was important, but I didn’t connect the dots that I would need to take the power source out of the ATP to get the Vessel working. I did at one point consider SUCH a convoluted plan to try and repair the burnt out core….
And man, what an experience that was. I treated that run as my final run - and it felt both cathartic and nerve-wracking to see how the game ended. It felt oddly peaceful despite my unease, just you and your friends sitting around a fire, playing music as the universe changes to a new form.
Haven’t mentioned the Hearthian NPCs but they were fun too!
Here’s my gameplay of the ending, I ended up swearing a lot.